Château de La Hille in Montégut-Plantaurel, near Pailhès, preserves the memory of one of the darkest episodes in the history of Ariège; a hundred Jewish children, aged between 5 and 16, were the victims of the Vichy administration. Having become orphans following the Crystal Night and the wave of anti-Semitic operations that spread across Nazi Germany, a number of Jewish German children fled to England, Belgium and France where they were taken in by charitable organisations.

Chased out of Belgium by the Wehrmacht offensive in May 1940, a hundred of them, after a six-day journey in animal lorries, reached Villefranche de Lauragais and then Seyre. On their arrival, they were taken in by the mayor, the château owner and the French Red Cross. The lack of food and the harsh winter of 1940-1941 forced the group to go to Château de La Hille in Montégut-Plantaurel, half way between Toulouse and the principality of Andorra.

In the summer of 1941, due to the intervention of the American Friends Service Committee (Quakers), 20 of the youngest were taken to the United States and two others were saved by relatives in America.

In August 1942, the forty-five oldest were arrested by French police and interned in the Le Vernet camp. The Swiss government intervened and secured their release from Vichy. The children then tried to flee to Switzerland with the help of the headmistress and Anne-Marie Piguet (the head of an escape network to Switzerland).

Those who were held back by border guards and returned to La Hille tried to reach Spain over the Pyrenees. Those less fortunate were sold by people-smugglers to the Germans and Franco before being deported. Others ended up joining the French maquis (resistance fighters). A commemorative stele was erected on 17 September 2000 and a museum relating the history has been set up in the château.

As a reminder of the role of a safe haven, a monument to the Rights of Man was erected on common land in 1993.

A commemorative plaque in the château

The wording on the commemorative plaque mounted near Château de La Hille tells of the journey taken by the German Jewish children persecuted by the Nazi regime who became victims of the Vichy administration, many of whom survived thanks to the support of the Red Cross and local residents. Jacques Roth, a former resident and now a writer, was the author:

"In the darkest hours of the 20th century, the five hundred year old Château de la Hille provided a haven of peace for a hundred Jewish refugee children from Germany, fleeing from the terror and racial hatred which was spreading in waves across Holland, Belgium and a large part of France. Having arrived at the château in 1941, they lived there surrounded by the benevolence of the local residents and in the good care of a group of young Swiss Red Cross workers, Aid to Children: Maurice and Eléonore Dubois, Rösli Näf, Eugen Lyrer and Emma Ott. Their only too brief respite ended with the raids of August 1942, when the forty or so over sixteen years old were arrested by the police and taken to the le Vernet Camp in Ariège, the first stage of their journey to the death camps to which they were destined. Alerted to the fact, Mister Dubois, the director of the organisation, came immediately to Vichy where he managed to break down the door of the highest State police officer and succeeded in rescuing "his children", as well as the adults accompanying them, from deportation. The "Hillois" were able to return to their château. However, the feeling of security never returned. In November 1942, with the arrival of German troops across the whole country and sensing the threat once again, the older ones started to disperse. Twenty-five of them tried to reach Switzerland. Twenty succeeded but five were arrested. Ten sought their salvation by taking the shortest route over the Pyrenees but five did not make it. Others were taken in by local farmers. Some of the young girls found sanctuary in a convent. Some joined the maquis and one of them was killed by enemy bullets. Of the ten "Hillois" deported to Auschwitz, just one survived. Throughout its history, the château has never been the setting for an armed battle, but in this last episode it was witness to the victory of humanity over barbarity. The elders of la Hille say thank you to it, as well as to the residents of Montégut Plantaurel and its surrounding area."

Mairie of Montégut-Plantaurel

09120 Montégut-Plantaurel

Tel.: + 33 (0) 5 61 05 35 83

e-mail: mairie.montegut-plantaurel@wanadoo.fr

Varilhes Tourist Information Office

3 avenue Louis-Siret

09120 VARILHES

Tel.: + 33 (0) 5.61.60.55.54

Fax: + 33 (0) 5.61.60.55.54

e-mail: office-tourisme.varilhes@wanadoo.fr

This vast building behind a glass front is nestled in greenery and overlooks the valley below. It towers skyward a stone's throw from Schirmeck. And it casts light on one of history's rambling episodes, and on the suffering and self-sacrifice that episode brought upon thousands of men, women and children. The amazing architecture and setting convey the oft-misconstrued story of an area that jolted from one country to another as the border it skirts shifted. The 3000 sq m museum casts light on this hazy period between 1870 and the aftermath of WWII, which weighs upon this region's identity. And, as efforts to reconcile France and Germany were born from efforts to root peace across Europe, this memorial also showcases the foundations of European construction.

When you leave the glass-walled hall, you get the feeling you are descending into history's depths. At the foot of the sombre steps, you will find a staggering, cathedral-sized room. The 12-metre-high walls on either side bear 148 portraits of men and women from Alsace and Moselle, spanning every generation and every walk of life. They all have names. It might be someone's piercing gaze, engaging hairdo or original dress, but something will no doubt catch your eye. But this room, first and foremost, will put a face on textbook history. The stories this memorial tells, in other words, are not about statistics and remote people in a remote land. They are about children, grandparents, young women. About the children, grandparents and young women in that room. They will speak to you over the audio guide. They speak French, German and Alsatian. They tell you what happened over those 70 dissonant years. They tell you their story.
Hitler's shuddering voice rings out as you step into a rebuilt village station. Posters luring you to tourist destinations hang alongside evacuation orders. You take a seat in a train packed with luggage and personal belongings. A film on the wagon wall shows how 430,000 of Alsace's and Moselle's people were transferred to Southwest France. On the opposite wall, a corridor leads to a fort on the Maginot Line. The white walls strewn with electric wires, floor tracks, dormitories and armoured doors explain are chilling. The instructions aimed at drafted soldiers, speech excerpts and images from the front exude this peculiar war's atmosphere.
After the documents stating the terms of the occupation and de-facto annexation under the Third Reich, you will walk into a circling corridor displaying street name boards. The first ones are in French first, the last ones in German. The flags parading overhead surreptitiously transmute from France's red, white and blue to swastikas.
Then you reach a forward-tilting typically Germanic building. The only way forward is through this oppressive, half-prison, half-bureaucratic universe. Desks on either side show the population brought to heel and enlisted by force. Struthof Camp bodes ill at a distance.
The barbed wire, army camps, pale lights and watchtowers in the next room will give you a glimpse of what concentration camps felt like. Photos, papers and audiovisual documents in this bleak universe also speak of the resistance and of escaping into France.
You walk across this vast room on a 3.5-metre-high footbridge. The Vosges forest pines underfoot are a reminder that people crossing the border over the neighbouring heights were doing so illicitly. The scenery is scarred by war. Bombs have disfigured the land. Everything is littered with disfigured bicycles and car wrecks, strewn petrol drums, and such like debris. Bombers tear through the sky. A house crumbles. And images on the wall speak of the German retreat and the Landings. Liberation nears.
The next room is much more soothing. The floor is even. Towering columns mirror the return of justice and truth. This room tells the story of the Oradour massacre trials in Bordeaux. The red walls seem lined with drawers holding the hundreds of files under review. A well of images shows the process and purge.
The room before last is white and bathed in light. It is a breath of fresh air. Lit blocks show French- German reconciliation and European construction. This soothing and cheerful room leads to a projection room screening a film by Alain Jérôme. Then, you walk back into the vast transparent hall and esplanade, whence you can look out onto stunning views over the Vosges massif. And, across the valley, see Struthof camp and the European Centre on Resistance and Deportation (Centre Européen du Résistant Déporté).
Opening hours The Alsace Moselle Memorial is open from 10.00 am to 6.30 pm in winter and from 10.00 am to 7.00 pm in summer. Tickets are on sale until one hour before closing time. Admission Full fare: €10 Reduced fare: €8 Families (two adults and children): €23 Tours with audio guides Disabled-visitor access Shop Bar / Tearoom Educational Office - Workshops The Educational Office caters for school groups (with an educational director and assigned professor).

Stretched out over a surface of 26 hectares, southwards from the city of Lorient, the ancient submarine base Kéroman is established in the middle of the roadstead, in front of the Port-Luois citadel and the Island of Saint-Michel

From the summer of 1940 and the German victory in the west, the Kriegesmarine fits out bases in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. The Lorient arsenal is chosen by Admiral Karl Dönitz to accommodate one of the five huge bases installed on the French coasts of the Atlantic to protect the U-Boote. From June 21st 1940, the first day the city was occupied, work commenced to free the docks, in order to allow the submarines to enter the Lorient port on July 7th. In spite of the reinforcement of the site from the Kriegesmarine, the German headquarter quickly realised, that these installations are not suitable enough for the conduct of the Atlantic war and thus decides to build a concrete unit constituting a real underwater base, more suited to resist the violence of the allied shelling. Under fire from the planes of the Royal Air Force, 15 000 workers build between February 1941 and January 1943 three huge concreted blocks, with amazing dimensions: the flank measures 130m and 18.5 m high for the blocks Kéroman I (KI) znd Kéroman II (K II), with roofs measuring 3.5 m thickness; the Kéroman III (KIII) block is 170m long, 122 m large and has a roof thickness of 7,5,m. The new Kéroman underwater base can resist to the classic shells, then the most powerful of that period, and is able to shelter more the 25 submarines thanks to installations exposed directly to the sea. It has the capacity to hoist the most impressive submarines, in protected cells thanks to a slipway. The presence of this base considered indestructible is the reason that Lorient suffered massive bombardments from the allies' aviation, which transformed the city into a vast field of ruins. Since the concrete protection was never really damaged during the war, the French national navy has used the Kéroman site since 1945. They installed a fleet of submarines, an annexation of the Lorient arsenal (DCN), as well as a zone, where the submariners can live.
July 6th 1946 the Kéroman bases were baptised with this name by Jacques Stosskopf, section chief of the new constructions in the Lorient arsenal. He will later on be deported and executed by the Nazis, accusing him to have transmitted precious information about the strategic activity of the base to the resistance network, during the entire occupation period. In 1995, the ministry of defence announces, in the framework of its reorganization plan, the abandonment of the site that will become effective in February 1997, with the departure from Kéroman of the last submarine "La Sirène".
The visit of the Kéromann III block Now days only Kéroman III block is open to the public to visit. The other sectors of the base are inactive or occupied by factories. A guided path of approximately an hour and a half gives to the visitor the chance to discover the greatest buildings built in Lorient, measuring 24000 m2 . They can also climb the roof constituting a splendid view-point dominating the roadstead of Lorient and its harbours. In the south east of the base, the block contains seven cells, who's most important is 103 m long and 22,5 m large and offers two sites. In 1944 its construction remained unfinished, since the block was under continuous bombardment during the whole time of its construction. Individuals can visit the site during the school holidays, and groups may visit the site during the whole year on reservation. The opening dates are available at the tourist office of Lorient.
Flanking the walls of the base, the Davis Tower was built in 1942 for the submarines training. In 1953 the national navy restores it back into service. From 1999 it resurfaces thanks to a museographic space dedicated to the immersed inheritance of Lorient. Equipped with a decompression chamber simulating the living conditions of the crews, the museum gives to the visitor the chance to plunge back into the past and discover the wrecks of this region. Open every Sunday from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. During July and August, open every day from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Count approximately an hour of visit.
Recently purchaser of this site, having at its disposal more than 1200 m of cost line, the community of agglomeration of Lorrient, controls a conversion project of the base centred on the major topic: "The man and the sea during the XXI century". The installation of several companies in the old concrete blocks, that sheltered the submarines, contributed to the development of a strong activity in the water sports sector. In the long term, the opening of a company-village, based on the maritime, advanced technology industry is envisaged. By the year 2005 the inauguration of the Tabarly Academy will take place. This area pays tribute to the memory of the missing sailors, with a media library, by organising exhibitions and by giving information on the topics of the oceanic races. The opening to the public of the "Flora" submarine, that was in service from 1964 until its disarmament in 1989 in Kéroman is forecasted. A first phase of works is considered, in order to repair the submarine, the boat ramp which supports it and the transporter bridge between the K I block and the K II block. After the renovation is completed, footbridges will make it possible to reach a museographic space, dedicated to the submarine base of Kéroman and exhibiting the every day life on board of the submarines.
Base Submarine Peninsula Keroman 56100 Lorient Phone: 02 97 02 23 29 Rate : Full price: 6 €, reduced 3 €, free for children under 12 years Hours : [list] Outside school holidays: Every Sunday at 15 pm [list] School holidays: daily at 15 am on Saturday. [list] Closed December 25 and 31 and the entire month of January Tourist office of Lorient email :contact@lorient-tourisme.com

Some of them managed to cross the border into Spain and Andorra; the others were taken and transferred to Camp du Vernet on the night of 26 August 1942. During the first roundup, around 200 people were arrested and interned before being transported to Auschwitz.

A second roundup took place between 9 and 11 January 1943: 266 Jews were arrested. On the bend in La croix du Ruisseau, a stele pays tribute to the 640 men, women and children sent to live in Aulus-les-Bains in 1942 and those arrested during the two roundups.

Quelques lieux remarquables

• La maison du docteur Faure, médecin thermal, père d'Edgar Faure (1908-1988), écrivain et homme politique
• Le monument aux morts. On y lit beaucoup de noms identiques avec à côté leur sobriquet correspondant le plus souvent au nom de la maison où ils vivaient 
• L'Office du Tourisme. Sur l'ancien emplacement de l'hôtel du Midi construit en 1866, le Grand hôtel, qui a fonctionné jusqu'en 1939, puis a été réquisitionné pendant la guerre. Après la Libération, en raison de son état de délabrement, il n'est plus utilisé que comme salle de café et de réunions, avant d'être démoli dans les années quatre-vingt-dix
• L'Hôtel Majestic. Lorsque, le 11 novembre 1942, l'armée allemande a envahi la zone Sud, elle a établi son cantonnement à l'Hôtel Majestic.

01 - Les Neufs Fonts

02 - Carrière des Frouns

03 - Oratoire St Vincent

04 - Salle d'animation du Camping ancienne scierie

05 - Emplacement de l'ancien Casino

06 - Colonie de la Ville de Toulouse anciens Hôtels du Parc

07 - Ancienne usine à Gaz

08 - Maison du Dr Faure

09 - Les Bemèdes ancienne maison Crouzat

10 - Hôtel de France

11 - Hôtel Georges

12 - Grand Hôtel

13 - Allée des Bains

14 - Parc Thermal

16 - Hôtel Beauséjour

17 - Hôtel Majestic

18 - Villa les Bains ancien Hôtel des Bains

19 - Hôtel La Terrasse

20 - Monument aux Morts

21 - Hôtel Les Oussaillès ancienne Maison Charrue

22 - Gîte d'Etape ancien Presbytère

23 - Eglise d'Aulus

25 - Oratoire St Bernard de Menton

26 - La Croix du Ruisseau

27 - Le Moulin

28 - Office de Tourisme emplacement Hôtel du Midi

29 - Aulus La Trappe

Mairie d'Aulus-les-Bains

Place de la Mairie 09410 Aulus-les-Bains

Tél. : 05 61 96 00 87

Bureau d'Aulus-les-Bains

09410 Aulus-les-Bains

Tél. : 05 61 96 00 01

Antenne de l'Office de tourisme de Haut-Couserans

09140 Aulus-les-Bains

tél. 05.61.96.02.22

fax : 05.61.96.01.79

e-mail : aulus-les-bains@worldonline.fr

Close to Ohama Beach, the Ohama Beach Memorial Museum preserves the memory of the day that marked a turning point in the Second World War: D-Day.

Agreed during the Tehran Conference in 1943, the opening of a second front in the west, in addition to the offensive of the Red Army, took shape with the Allied landing in the Normandy beaches between La Madelaine (Manche) and Ouistreham (Calvados).

The assault took place on Tuesday 6 June 1944, at dawn, on five beaches codenamed Utah Beach and Ohama Beach (where the Americans were to land), and Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach (where the English and Canadians were to land).

Following a shelling along the Atlantic Wall, the allied troops landed at around 8 o’clock in the morning. All the beaches were taken in the morning, with the exception of Ohama Beach, taken in the afternoon at the expense of 2,500 lives out of 3,000 men assigned to the operation.

The museum is located 200 metres from Ohama Beach, the site of the most brutal D-Day battles in the landing sector of the US troops, close to St Laurent/Colleville American cemetery. Covering 1,200 m2, the museum presents a collection of military vehicles, arms, uniforms and badges used by the American and German soldiers during the Second World War. It retraces the events and economic life under the German occupation.

A life-size display featuring models in combat situations recounts the landing on Ohama Beach.

Outside, the American army donated a 155-mm "Long Tom" cannon, the only one of its kind in Normandy. An American Sherman tank is also on display in the parking area. Themed displays show a collection of documents relating to the resistance and the deportation.

Musée Mémorial d'Omaha Beach "Les Moulins"

Avenue de la Libération - 14710 Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer

Tél. : (33) 02 31 21 97 44 – Fax : (33) 02 31 92 72 80

Email : contact@musee-memorial-omaha.com

Musée Mémorial d'Omaha Beach

Normandie Mémoire

Ouvert depuis 1911, il est dédié à la mémoire des Périgourdins et de leurs familles qui y ont déposé, depuis cette époque, armes, uniformes et souvenirs de toutes sortes, en complément de dons de l’État et de dépôts d’autres musées. Les collections évoquent la mémoire des combattants de la région, à toutes les époques, dans leur vie quotidienne, leurs engagements, qu’ils aient été soldats de métier ou simplement appelés sous les drapeaux, en la situant dans le cadre global de l’histoire militaire de la France.

Du Moyen Age à l’époque actuelle, les objets et documents présentés sont le plus souvent rares, remarquables, émouvants ou simplement pittoresques et proviennent autant de personnages célèbres (Daumesnil, Bugeaud …) que de simples soldats. Vous trouverez au Musée Militaire du Périgord, plus de 15 000 objets militaires.
Les conflits de 1914/1918, 1939/1945, Indochine, Algérie ont apporté leur lot de souvenirs, parfois remis par l’Etat comme les canons et mitrailleuses, prises de guerre sur l‘ennemi d’alors, mais aussi et toujours par les combattants eux-mêmes ou leur famille.

Et le flot ne tarit pas puisque ces dernières années, des souvenirs d’ex Yougoslavie ou de la guerre Du Golfe ont été inscrits à l’inventaire du musée. La présentation permanente des collections au public, s’accompagne d’expositions annuelles consacrées à un thème historique, tout en accordant également une assistance à l’organisation de manifestations locales organisées par diverses collectivités par le biais d’un service de conseil et de prêts d’objets.

Un effort particulier est exercé dans le domaine de l’éducation par un accueil des classes gratuit et accompagné sur des thèmes choisis par les enseignants. L’établissement est, depuis sa création, toujours géré par les membres bénévoles de l’Association du Musée Militaire des Gloires et Souvenirs du Périgord qui ont en charge la présentation et l’entretien des collections, organisent les expositions et assurent les visites guidées.

Built on a rocky outcrop, Brest Castle dominates the Penfeld River and the harbour. It stands on a major strategic site whose importance as such was recognised as early as the 3rd century, when the Romans set up base there to protect the province of Armorique from Frankish and Saxon pirates.

In the twelfth century, the counts of Léon restored the old bases left by the Romans and a small town surrounding a chapel was established within its walls, a town that grew into the Brest we know today! During the Hundred Years' War, the castle was occupied by the English and besieged by Duguesclin. Anne of Brittany also stayed there in 1505 during a pilgrimage. In the seventeenth century, under pressure from Richelieu and Colbert for Brest to become the French Royal Navy's major arsenal on the Atlantic coast, it was decided that the castle's defences needed to be improved. The architect Vauban then transformed it into a veritable citadel, and the town grew below it. In a town that had to be almost entirely rebuilt after the fierce raids of 1944, the castle is the last remaining testimony to centuries past.
The Castle has been constantly adapted to changes in siege tactics and weaponry. It needed to be able to resist two types of attack: those from the sea, but mostly those from the land. Consequently, its architecture is complex and additions were frequently made to it over time. Parts of the Roman walls are still visible, and the Paradis Towers have preserved their medieval character (pepper-box roofs and machicolation). But in its current state, the castle remains characteristic of the defensive fortification architecture developed by Vauban, in particular to respond to the use of siege artillery. For seventeen centuries, from Roman encampment to its role as a naval base, the destiny of the Castle has been linked to the sea, the history of a town, a province and an entire country.
There has been a small museum in the arsenal since the beginning of the nineteenth century: a room devoted to models is home to many sculptures and historic model ships. Fortunately, these collections were stowed away during World War II and thus spared. They now form part of the National Maritime Museum network in Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort, Toulon and Paris. In 1958, a new museum was established in the castle, the museum that is today visited by the public. Not to be missed are the masterpieces of maritime heritage and culture, the naval history of Brest, the castle's historic rooms and the exceptional views of the harbour and the Penfeld River.
The dungeon houses permanent collections devoted to the golden era of naval construction, as well as the penal system, weapons and scientific instruments. The temporary exhibitions (photos, paintings, case studies) are presented in the Paradis Towers, while the Madeleine Tower displays more modern naval history. Visitors can also see the S622 submarine, an example of a Seehund pocket submarine, and a boat-people vessel.
The Museum offers a series of themed tours for children at the entrance. For its temporary exhibitions, the Museum proposes a discovery tour for children. Booklets on a certain theme and questionnaires designed for children aged 8 and over are available for visitors not part of an organised tour ("Tonnerre de Brest!" a visit questionnaire based on the collections on display at Brest Castle; "Au vent de Suroît" a visit questionnaire based on the history of Brest Castle Museum) For youngsters and adults: - Guided tours all year round for groups on appointment. During the summer months, individual visitors can also follow a guided commentary at fixed times. - Greeting and training for teachers Entry is free for any teachers wishing to prepare a class trip to the Museum.
Musée National de la Marine Château de Brest 29200 Brest Tél. : 02.98.22.12.39 Fax: 02.98.43.30.54 E-Mail: [email = brest@musee-marine.fr] brest@musee-marine.fr [/ email]

The Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure National Cemetery and Memorial (Nécropole nationale et mémorial de Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure) were erected shortly after WWII to the memory of soldiers killed in action and of the 1,465 martyrs of the Resistance.

Shortly after vanquishing German occupants in October 1944, a handful of soldiers and resistance fighters decided to erect a Resistance memorial in Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure cemetery to the memory of the men and women who had served as volunteers and fallen "Pour la liberté and la grandeur de la patrie" ("For the freedom and grandeur of the nation").

This necropolis spans over two hectares. Most of the 2,255 soldiers and resistance fighters buried here were from Southwest France. This cemetery's distinctive feature, however, is that it is perched on a hillside. A large-scale refurbishing project involved refacing the memorial, renewing the plantations and building a car park. In 2000 and 2001, a sizeable promotional drive involved publishing a flyer, providing visitor-information boards, and refurbishing the reception area and memorial crypt.

Efforts to "rekindle the flame of remembrance" began very shortly after the Liberation in October 1944, at the hands of a group of soldiers and resistance fighters under Colonel André Chabanne, who had led the Bir'Hakeim maquis and the Charente Secret Army. F. Poncelet, an architect and resistant, designed the cemetery and memorial. Work began in 1945 (German prisoners erected the buildings by hand) and ended in 1951 thanks to a franc 5,000,000 grant from the French State prompted by Félix Gaillard's 10 August 1950 speech in the National Assembly. French President Vincent Auriol (1884-1966) inaugurated this memorial on 21 October 1951 alongside Minister for War Veterans Emmanuel Temple and then Deputy Minister for National Defence Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury.

The building faces maquis bases. It is 21 metres high and features a victory V (the emblem of the Resistance) and the Cross of Lorraine. Considerable financial and physical resources went into this memorial. It took five years to build, cost francs 13,000,000, and weighs 2,000 tonnes.
The blocks weigh as much as two tonnes each. The bas-reliefs span 80 sq m. Builders had to dig a 1,125 sq m hole for the 2,000 cubic metres of concrete and 30 tonnes of steel used to build the crypt and nine supporting pillars.

Messrs Peyronnet, Guiraud and Lamourdedieu carved the bas-reliefs depicting the lives of civilian and military resistance fighters, and their sacrifices to liberate France. The 28 alcoves in the crypt hold the remains of 30 fighters, including Colonel Chabanne and the military delegate for Southwest France Region B. Visitors entering the crypt will see an inscription overhead: "Français, ne les oubliez pas" ("People of France, do not forget them").
 

ONAC de la Haute Vienne

6 rue Haute de la Comédie - 87000 LIMOGES

Tél. : +33 (0)555 33 51 30

Tourism Office Haute-Charente

Maison des Lacs - 16310 Massignac

Tel : 05.45.65.26.69

Fax : 05.45.64.90.83

Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure is 30 km from Oradour-sur-Glane, on the road from Limoges to Angoulême.

Cemetery and memorial admission is free of charge all year round. Guided tours are available working days and by appointment on Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays.

• Réagir

Face à la fulgurance de l'attaque allemande, la France signe l'armistice le 22 juin 1940. L'ordre allemand s'impose désormais en zone nord tandis que l'État français, gouvernement autoritaire, choisit comme capitale Vichy en zone non-occupée. La République et la démocratie sont mises en sommeil et les libertés supprimées. Devant l'effondrement militaire et politique du pays, un choix difficile s'impose : Accepter ? Attendre ? Désobéir ?

• S'engager

Nourris d'une révolte individuelle et bravant les dangers, des hommes et des femmes choisissent la lutte clandestine. Ils s'engagent dans des réseaux de renseignements structurés par les alliés tel le réseau Confrérie Notre-Dame qui agit à Thouars dès le printemps 1941 ou des mouvements de résistance pour qui l'action paramilitaire prédomine à partir de 1943. Dans l'ombre, l'espoir d'une libération renaît.

• Construire

Dans la clandestinité – outre la libération du territoire – s'affirme la volonté de créer une société nouvelle. S'appuyant sur les valeurs défendues, les résistants bâtissent un ambitieux programme de réformes. Le retour à la République permet sa mise en œuvre et des avancées sociales majeures. À la barbarie succède le souhait d'une paix mondiale. Cet idéal s'incarne en 1945 dans la création de l'ONU et l'instauration d'une justice internationale.

Le Centre Régional « Résistance & Liberté », en qualité de partenaire pédagogique, culturel et scientifique de la Ville de Montreuil-Bellay, organise des visites du principal camp d’internement de nomades situé dans cette commune. Entre 1940 et 1946, 6000 à 6500 nomades - pour la plupart Tsiganes - sont internés par familles entières en France. À travers l'histoire du camp d'internement de Montreuil-Bellay, où près de 2 000 personnes furent internées, il s'agit de découvrir leur sort et de rompre les préjugés qui les entourent encore aujourd’hui.